The Science OF Intermittent Fasting And Why It May Be More Effective Than A Diet

Intermittent fasting is one of the world’s most popular health and fitness trends at the moment. It involves interchanging cycles of eating and fasting. Studies have shown that it can help with weight loss, protect against disease, improve metabolic health, and perhaps help you live longer.

Today, we will discuss intermittent fasting and the science behind it. Intermittent fasting is not a type of diet; it is a pattern of eating. It is a way of scheduling meals so that you can get maximum benefit out of them, It doesn’t change what you eat; it changes when you take your meals. Why is it beneficial to change when you eat? Well, the most important benefit is that it is a great way to get lean without subscribing to crazy diets or overly cutting down your calories. In fact, during the intermittent fasting period, you will try to maintain your calories. Additionally, it is a good way to maintain your muscle mass while getting lean. However, the main reason for intermittent fasting is to lose weight.

​How Intermittent Fasting Works And How It Can Eliminate Diets

​To understand intermittent fasting work and how it helps with fat loss, we need to know the difference between fed and fasted state. When digesting and absorbing food, your body is said to be in a fed state. Typically, this state lasts for 3-5 hours and starts when you begin eating. This is the time your body digests and absorbs nutrients from the food you just ate.

When in the fed state, it’s hard for you to burn excess body fat as your insulin levels are normally high. When insulin levels are high, your body does not burn fat for energy. It doesn’t need to use fat stores because what you are eating gives it something to work with.

​Somewhere between 3-5 hours, your body stops processing your last meal. Now that there is nothing left to absorb, your insulin levels naturally decrease. After this state, your body goes into another state known as post-absorptive, which is another way of saying that your body is not processing anything. This state can last between eight to twelve hours after you take your last meal. In short, when your body is in the fed state, it does not need to burn fat; it's like the pathway to fat stores is locked. Once it enters the fasted state, the door swings open. After this is when you enter the fasted state. It is easier for you to burn fat in this state because the insulin levels are normally low. ​

​In the fasted state, your body can burn fat that was isolated during the fed state. Because your body will take close to 12 hours after your last meal to enter the fasted state, it is very rare to find yourself in this fat burning state. This is one reason many people who begin intermittent fasting lose weight fast without changing their diet, portions, or how often they exercise.

​Fasting during this time will put your body in a fat-burning state that you seldom reach during a normal eating schedule. In other words, you need to give your body a 12 hours break after your last meal for it to get to fasted state. At this time, you can lose a few percentage points of fat without changing what you eat and exercise routine; keeping all the other variables constant.​

The Most Popular Types Of Intermittent Fasts

Because of the popularity it has gained in the last couple of years, there has been an emergence of several different methods/types of intermittent fasting. Here are some of the popular methods...​

The 16/8 Method. In this method, you need to fast for 16 hours each day. In some cases people eat 3 meals from generally 1 pm to 8 pm, some choose to eat 1-2 meals. The 16 hour fast is from 8 pm to about 1 pm.

Eat-Stop-Eat. This should be carried out once or twice a week. You should not eat anything from dinner until dinner the next day. It means you will be fasting for 24 hours. Many people like this method due to its simplicity.

The 5:2 Diet. This involves eating only 500-600 calories during two days of the week, while the rest of the week is a normal diet. Probably the least common among the 3 most popular, yet many people have success with the 5:2

Here's the bottom line...

​ As long as you stick to eating healthy foods and restricting your eating durations, intermittent fasting will have some impressive health benefits. It is an effective way to improve metabolic health and lose fat while simplifying your life.